SEC basketball sunk so low two years ago that commissioner Greg Sankey brought in a special adviser to the commissioner for men's basketball (former Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese).

Something had to be done to improve SEC basketball. Only three of the league's 14 members were invited to the NCAA Tournament in 2016.

SEC basketball was so bad league fans laughed off losses on social media with the hashtag #SECBasketballFever.

Two years later, SEC basketball is no joke.

The league ranks among the top three in conference RPI (Ratings Percentage Index). On Saturday, the SEC won the Big 12/SEC Challenge for the first time. The SEC won six of 10 games against the Big 12, a conference ranked No. 1 in RPI. And the SEC accomplished the feat without its best team -- Auburn -- even playing in the event.

After trying to convince others the league had improved, SEC coaches seem unfazed over their recent triumph over the Big 12.

"It doesn't matter,'' Kentucky's John Calipari said after his team's upset 83-76 win at then-No. 7 West Virginia on Saturday night to give the SEC the 6-4 advantage. "You got two of the best leagues. And so whether they were 6-4 or 7-3, or we were 6-4, 5-5, it doesn't matter. Both of these leagues are two of the best leagues.''

So how did the SEC turn things around and can the league maintain its suddenly lofty stature?

Better coaches

Perhaps the first reason for the improved SEC is the improvement on the sidelines.

Since the 2015-16 season, there has been an influx of new basketball coaches in the SEC.

In 2015, Alabama hired Avery Johnson. Mississippi State turned to Ben Howland. Florida brought in Mike White and Tennessee gave Rick Barnes a new job.

Johnson had been an NBA Coach of the Year and taken the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals. Howland had taken three teams to Final Fours. White enjoyed great success at Louisiana Tech and Barnes took Texas to a Final Four.

One year later, Vanderbilt hired Bryce Drew. Last year, LSU hired Will Wade and Missouri brought Cuonzo Martin back to the league from California.

A league that just four years ago only had two coaches who had taken teams to Final Fours now has four -- Barnes, Calipari, Howland and South Carolina's Frank Martin.

The coaching has not only been better on the sidelines, but in recruiting and development as well.

In fact, some have made the case the SEC has better basketball coaches than football coaches.

Gridiron Now's Mike Huguenin made this point last spring.

"The ADs have done a better job with their basketball hirings, and the stark truth is that the SEC — the conference that cares more about football than any league in the nation — has, top to bottom, better basketball coaches than football coaches,'' Huguenin wrote.

Better players

If you want to win in any sport, you need good players. And in the SEC, the talent level has risen in each of the last two recruiting cycles.

In the 2016-17 recruiting class, the SEC had three of 247sports' composite rankings top-10 classes -- Kentucky at No. 2, Missouri at No. 4 and Alabama at No. 8.

In this year's class, the SEC has three of the top-10 again with LSU at No. 3, Kentucky at No. 5 and Vanderbilt at No. 7. And in an unusual twist, LSU basketball has more five-star commitments/signees (two) than LSU football (one).

The impact of those recruiting classes has been felt immediately. An example was seen Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

While Oklahoma freshman Trae Young has been the focal point of much of college basketball this season as the nation's leading scorer, it was another freshman, Alabama's Collin Sexton, who came up big in the Crimson Tide's 80-73 win over No. 12 Oklahoma.

"Collin Sexton was a stud there when we were trying to make Trae Young play some defense,'' Johnson said.

As an example of the talent level currently in the SEC, consider that NBADraft.net has six SEC players among the first 14 picks in its NBA mock draft. Conversely, CBSSports.com has just three SEC players among the first 14 picks in its mock NFL draft.

Those players, though, have to play together as a team. It is one reason Auburn, which had a top-12 recruiting class in 2015-16, is currently atop the SEC standings.

CBS Sports' Jerry Palm has six SEC teams projected to play in the tournament. Palm has Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky and Tennessee in the field with South Carolina and Texas A&M among the first four out.

While Selection Sunday should be a big day for the SEC, the possibility of having another Final Four team this season and three in the Elite Eight may not be as great as last season. The league was top heavier last year while this year it is arguably deeper with good teams.